Latest news with #GregDavies
The Irish Sun
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
TV show Taskmaster launches new free experiences across top UK attractions this summer
FANS of the comedy series Taskmaster, where comedians compete in a series of usually embarrassing and tricky tasks, need to check out this new experience. This summer, English Heritage and Taskmaster have joined forces to bring family fun and games to 17 historical sites across the UK - and it's absolutely free. Advertisement 4 You can play Taskmaster at 17 English Heritage sites across the UK Credit: 4 The experience is complete free and is included with the price of entry for the site Credit: Taskmaster, the Channel 4 show, sees five comedians attempt a series of strange and hilarious tasks set by The ultimate goal is to score the most points by impressing the Taskmaster himself, Greg Davies. By the end of the series, the Now, families across the UK can give the TV show a go in their own way. Advertisement Read More on UK Attractions Across various English Heritage sites like These family-friendly tasks are full of laughs, and while the experience is suitable for all ages, it's likely they'll prove to be trickier than you think. After all, the tasks in the TV show are known for being much harder in real-life than in theory. Over the course of the experience there are six challenges in total. Advertisement Most read in Family Exclusive Exclusive Each one takes up to five minutes, so you really can take your time in perfecting the task and beating your opponents. The challenges are spread out over each of the heritage sites and will be clearly marked so you won't miss them. Taskmaster viewers all say the same thing as series 15 winner is revealed - and next batch of celebrities are confirmed 4 The experience is based on the Channel 4 comedy series Credit: Avalon While it's summer, make sure you dress for rain or shine as it will be outside. Advertisement At the end, you can tot up your scores to reveal the winner. The only downside is that neither Alex nor Greg will be there give you a round of applause. The experience runs from now until August 31, 2025. The best bit is that the Taskmaster challenge is at no extra cost either - it's included in your entry ticket to each Advertisement The price of entry at each English Heritage site does vary, for example, entry to At Stonehenge, entry for adults start at £27.20 with children costing upwards from £17.20. For any English Heritage members, entry to each site is completely free. While you can't book ahead for the Taskmaster challenge, you can book a day ticket to the site online, and save 15 per cent if you book before the day of your visit. Advertisement Or you can choose to buy a membership from £42 meaning you get free entry to over 400 sites across the UK. You can bring up to six children under 18 per adult for free and members' kids eat free this summer too at certain English Heritage cafes. Here are Plus, this Advertisement Here's A List of Participating English Heritage Sites Dover Castle Osborne Walmer Castle Audley End Battle Abbey Beeston Castle Belsay Hall Bolsover Castle Brodsworth Hall Carisbrooke Castle Eltham Palace and Gardens Framlingham Castle Kenilworth Castle Pendennis Castle Scarborough Castle Stonehenge Wrest Park 4 Taskmaster and English Heritage has teamed up for a family-friendly experience Credit: English Heritage
The Sun
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
TV show Taskmaster launches new free experiences across top UK attractions this summer
FANS of the comedy series Taskmaster, where comedians compete in a series of usually embarrassing and tricky tasks, need to check out this new experience. This summer, English Heritage and Taskmaster have joined forces to bring family fun and games to 17 historical sites across the UK - and it's absolutely free. 4 Taskmaster, the Channel 4 show, sees five comedians attempt a series of strange and hilarious tasks set by Alex Horne. The ultimate goal is to score the most points by impressing the Taskmaster himself, Greg Davies. By the end of the series, the winner is given a prize - a gold trophy of Greg's face. Now, families across the UK can give the TV show a go in their own way. Across various English Heritage sites like Audley End House, Carisbrooke Castle and Stonehenge, is the new Taskmaster challenge. These family-friendly tasks are full of laughs, and while the experience is suitable for all ages, it's likely they'll prove to be trickier than you think. After all, the tasks in the TV show are known for being much harder in real-life than in theory. Over the course of the experience there are six challenges in total. Each one takes up to five minutes, so you really can take your time in perfecting the task and beating your opponents. The challenges are spread out over each of the heritage sites and will be clearly marked so you won't miss them. Taskmaster viewers all say the same thing as series 15 winner is revealed - and next batch of celebrities are confirmed 4 While it's summer, make sure you dress for rain or shine as it will be outside. At the end, you can tot up your scores to reveal the winner. The only downside is that neither Alex nor Greg will be there give you a round of applause. The experience runs from now until August 31, 2025. The best bit is that the Taskmaster challenge is at no extra cost either - it's included in your entry ticket to each English Heritage property. The price of entry at each English Heritage site does vary, for example, entry to Osborne on the Isle of Wight costs £24.50 for adults and £15.50 for children (between 5 and 17). At Stonehenge, entry for adults start at £27.20 with children costing upwards from £17.20. For any English Heritage members, entry to each site is completely free. While you can't book ahead for the Taskmaster challenge, you can book a day ticket to the site online, and save 15 per cent if you book before the day of your visit. Or you can choose to buy a membership from £42 meaning you get free entry to over 400 sites across the UK. You can bring up to six children under 18 per adult for free and members' kids eat free this summer too at certain English Heritage cafes. Here are . Plus, this pub crawl is the best tourist experience in the UK according to Tripadvisor. Here's A List of Participating English Heritage Sites Dover Castle Osborne Walmer Castle Audley End Battle Abbey Beeston Castle Belsay Hall Bolsover Castle Brodsworth Hall Carisbrooke Castle Eltham Palace and Gardens Framlingham Castle Kenilworth Castle Pendennis Castle Scarborough Castle Stonehenge Wrest Park 4
CBC
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Why Jason Mantzoukas thought his 'big and brash' comedic persona would work on Taskmaster
When Jason Mantzoukas got the chance to appear on Taskmaster, one of his favourite TV shows, he didn't want to play along normally. He wanted to be the ugly American villain who creates chaos. Taskmaster is a long-running British panel game show that follows five comedians as they attempt to complete a series of unique and ridiculous challenges, which are then scored by comedian Greg Davies (the titular Taskmaster) in front of a live audience. "It is such a dumb, silly, funny show to watch," Mantzoukas tells Q 's Tom Power in an interview. "To explain it seems like a Byzantine series of roundabouts … when in reality, it is so dead simple: it's a comedy show. It's a comedy show masquerading as a game show." WATCH | Taskmaster Season 19, Episode 1: Though Taskmaster mostly features British and Irish comedians, Mantzoukas is not the show's first American contestant. He is, however, the first contestant to not be based in the U.K. at the time of filming. As a longtime fan of the show, the American actor and comedian reached out to creator Alex Horne to express his interest in appearing on the latest season (or series, as they say in the U.K.). His pitch, he says, was to be as combative and difficult as possible. A lot of the characters I play are lunatics and maniacs. - Jason Mantzoukas "My comedic persona is big and brash and, you know, it can be very outrageous," Mantzoukas says. "A lot of the characters I play are lunatics and maniacs…. I'm a heel, in wrestling terms. I am quite often taking shots, being a villain, and I felt like that would work on the show." At times, Mantzoukas drops the ugly American persona (he says all of the comedians occasionally drop their personas because they're genuinely having so much fun), but his Americanisms are always on full display. Throughout the show, he's regularly ribbed by Davies and Horne for his American pronunciation of words like "vase" and "route." "This happens throughout the whole series — or season — which is I'm saying an American pronunciation [and] they correct me with a British [pronunciation]," he says. "I don't know how many were edited out, but it gets played a lot because it works and it's always a surprise." During the COVID lockdowns of 2020, Taskmaster started uploading all of its episodes to YouTube, which helped the show become a global phenomenon. But the panel show format has never quite caught on across the pond in the U.S or English-speaking Canada. An American version of Taskmaster was created in 2018, but it only lasted one season. Mantzoukas thinks the reason why the American version of the show failed is due to structural changes that eliminated the "freewheeling banter" of the original show. "I don't think it was an audience problem," he says. "[Comedy Central] messed with the architecture of the show so much as to make it, I think, untenable…. I think Americans make the mistake of trying to apply too much structure and too much attention on points, when in reality the points are meaningless and the structure is loose. By focusing on structure and points, you strangle what's funny about it."
Scotsman
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Who is on the next series of Taskmaster? All five new constestants confirmed for season 20 of the Channel 4 show
The cast for Season 20 of Taskmaster. | Channel 4 Five more famous faces are going to be taking on fiendish tasks set by Taskmaster Greg Davies and 'Little' Alex Horne. Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Presented by Greg Davies and Alex Horne (who also created the programme, originally as a show for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe ), the first series of Taskmaster was broadcast in 2014 on comedy channel Dave , before expanding its audience after being poached by Channel 4 in 2020. While there have only been 19 series proper, there have also been special one-off 'Champion of Champion' and ' New Year Treat ' programmes, comprising one or two episodes, as well as a Junior Taskmaster hosted by former contenstants Rose Matafeo and Mike Wozniak. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The show sees (mainly) comedians take part in a range of challenges which are then marked by the hosts, usually (but not always) winning a maximum of five points per task. This week saw Horrible Histories star Matthew Baynton become season 19 champion, and minutes later fans found out who would be appearing next. Here's what we know. Who is appearing on Taskmaster Season 20? Ania Magliano Acclaimed standup and former member of Cambridge Footlights who was nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award in 2023. She's back in Edinburgh this August with a Work in Progress show. She's written for numerous television shows including Frankie Boyle's New World Order, The Now Show and the Have I Got News for You Twitter account. TV appearances includeThe Stand Up Sketch Show andThe Comedy Guide to Life. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Maisie Adam Maisie Adam's first Edinburgh Festival Fringe show, Vague, was nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Newcomer prize in 2018. She has appeared on numerous television programmes and was recently seen playing in Soccer Aid. Other credits include 8 Out of 10 Cats, Mock the Week, QI, Have I Got News for You, Would I Lie To You?, Richard Osman's House of Games, Roast Battle, Celebrity Mastermind, The Big Fat Quiz of the Year and The Last Leg. Phil Ellis Yet another Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee, Phil Ellis was shortlisted for the main award for his show Phil Ellis's Excellent Comedy Show - which won the Malcolm Hardee Award for Comic Originality. He also won the Edinburgh Comedy Award Panel prize in 2014 for children's game show (with adult content) Funz and Gamez. TV appearances include The Russell Howard Hour, Drunk History, Roast Battle, The Tez O'Clock Show, and Redknapp's Big Night Out. He has also produced three series of Phil Ellis is Trying on BBC Radio 4. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Reece Shearsmith Comedy superstar Reece Shearsmith was one of the founder members of The League of Gentlemen - who won the Edinburgh Comedy Award, then known as the Perrier, in 1997. The League of Gentlemen were a triple success - on radio, television and on the big screen. He went on to create, write and star in Psychoville and Inside No. 9. The stage version of the latter is coming to Edinburgh's Playhouse later this year after finding success in London's West End. He's appeared in numerous other television shows and films, including Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, Saltburn, The World's End, See How They Run, Venon: Let There Be Carnage, and A Field in England. Sanjeev Bhaskar Sanjeev Bhaskar is best known for being part of the groundbreaking sketch comedy group Goodness Gracious Me, who were a hit on BBC radio and television,. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad He went on to appear in sitcom The Kumars at No. 42 and presented a documentary series called India with Sanjeev Bhaskar. Film appearances include Paddington 2, Yesterday, The Flash and Notting Hill. How many episodes of Taskmaster will be in Season 20? While early series had between five and eight episodes but since season six there have been 10 episodes per series - so expect 10 episodes again. When will the new series of Taskmaster be broadcast?
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Taskmaster season 20 line-up from Inside No.9 star to Unforgotten actor
Taskmaster has announced the next five comedians who will be taking on the craziest of tasks, including actors in Inside No.9 and Unforgotten. Mathew Baynton was crowned the Taskmaster winner in the season 19 final. The Good Girls Guide to Murder star had gone up against comedians Fatiha El-Ghorri, Jason Mantzoukas, Rosie Ramsey and Stevie Martin. Comedians Alex Horne and Greg Davies will return to front the Channel 4 show. They have enlisted the star quality of five comedians who will bring their own eccentricity and creativity to the most difficult of challenges. "Famous contestants, infuriating challenges and a wheelbarrow of withering putdowns," the official summary said. "Taskmaster Greg Davies and sidekick Little Alex Horne oversee the weird, wonderful, BAFTA-winning comedy game show." The line-up is out but the launch date has yet to be released. Reece Shearsmith will be braving the Taskmaster studio alongside four other celebrity comedians. The BAFTA-winning writer, actor and comedian is one of the writers of dark comedy Inside No.9 and he has starred in the show too. Watch Taskmaster season 20 teaser Other top jobs include his roles in movies Shaun of the Dead, In The Earth and Saltburn. It's hard to believe that comedian and presenter Maisie Adam hasn't starred in Taskmaster already. The witty and outspoken presenter shot to fame in 2016 but she's finally going to be in the hot seat opposite Davies. She is best known for her appearances on comedy panel shows including Mock of the Week, Have I Got News for You? and The Last Leg. Actor and comedian Sanjeev Bhaskar has signed up to the comedy show. Recently, he would be immediately recognised for his lead role as DI Sunny Khan in drama Unforgotten that started in 2015. Bhaskar has also starred in comedy series Goodness Gracious Me and sitcom The Kumars at No.42. Phil Ellis will be competing against the other comedians on Taskmaster. He has written and featured in his radio sitcom Phil Ellis is Trying alongside Johnny Vegas, Sean Lock and Lee Mack. His TV appearances include The Russell Howard Hour, Live at the Apollo and Roast Battle. Comedian Ania Magliano completes the Taskmaster lineup. She has previously written for Amelia Dimoldenberg's Chicken Shop Date and Frankie Boyle's New World Order.
